ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The University of San Carlos SBP and Passerelle teams scored convincing wins to kick off the Visayas Regional Finals of the BEST Center SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo at the Iloilo Sports Complex.
The USC SBP team came from behind to outscore Ateneo de Iloilo (AdI), 57-43, while the USC Passerelle side scorched AdI, 61-41.
The USC SBP team started out slowly, falling behind 20-4 at the end of the first period and 32-18 at halftime. The Baby Warriors finally woke up in the third quarter with Juan Climaco leading the charge with three triples to cut the deficit to 39-38 going into the fourth quarter.
The USC rally carried over to the fourth period where they went on a 15-0 run for a 53-39 lead with 3:40 left in the game to shut down the hosts. Joseph Berdin was unstoppable in the low post, topscoring for USC with 23 points. Val Deano led AdI with 10.
The USC Passerelle team didn’t have to work as hard as they slowly but surely outplayed AdI in all departments. After trailing AdI 15-14 at the end of the first period, it was smooth sailing as they mounted a 30-22 halftime lead before cruising to a 48-34 lead after three quarters.
John Galinato led USC with 14 points, including nine in the second quarter when USC broke the game open. Roel Diaz led AdI with 12.
In the other Passerelle game, the University of St. La Salle (USLS) of Bacolod trashed College of St. John’s Roxas (CSJR), 62-32. USLS trampled over Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion (CPC) of Roxas, 53-20 in the other SBP division game. (FREEMAN)